The Alamo: A Real Cradle of Racism
Mass loyalty to the gentlemen class of plantation owners in the early 1800s, and the institution of slavery itself, made it possible for slave owners to organize militias and hordes of vigilantes in the southern states. These militias were initially used to slaughter Indigenous People, and later to serve as slave catchers and enforcers. Those desiring to be gentlemen of the slave owner class, or just trying to survive by obtaining land, migrated to Texas for reasons of debt, absconding criminal charges, and poverty. In order to reproduce this, it became necessary to organize armed men loyal to what was already a racialized American Dream in the slave-owning states.
Texas was the place to go for this dream to become a reality. Many of these poor white immigrants from the slave holding states would be used as pawns by the plantation owners seeking racialized dreams of wealth. Most poor whites would never be able to own slaves, but the desire to do so was a strong enticement. This desire was fueled by the ideology of white supremacy which was well-established in America at that time. My book, “The Alamo: A Cradle of Lies, Slavery, and White Supremacy” attempts to provide a stream of continuity between the racist past and crimes of they racist present.
Myths are well written to shore up power and attract the multitude to support whatever the established lie is going to be. It is perpetuated with force so that any discussion that drifts away from it is seen as attempts to deny the accepted norms of white supremacy. This veil of deceptions is not to be questioned for it would undermine white supremacy everywhere. Over the years, the Alamo defenders have been characterized as “noble” men. One Alamo book is even titled “Blood of Noble Men.” However, there was nothing noble about them. One definition of “noble” is “having or showing high moral principles and ideals.” These pro-slavery men were nothing like the above definition. Another definition says “noble” means, “belonging to a hereditary class with high social or political status; aristocratic.” Again, I cannot see how it applies to racists, slave owners, and thieves. Yet this is what many of the Anglo immigrants aspired to—becoming gentlemen of the slave owning class.
These racialized white immigrants coming to Mexican Texas, regardless of class, were supplied with doses of religious racism in a code of white supremacy racialized and romanticized histories of the Angles and Saxon. George Washington and others held these white heroes up in tribal ways. White supremacy has always been a force in the development of American history as well as in religious beliefs. According to Dr. Karen McKinney, a Biblical Studies professor at Bethel University, the “curse of Ham” from racialized biblical accounts falsely made the claim which indicated that Black people must service the needs of whites.
This ideology has been around since the earliest days of European penetration of the Americas. America would become an Anglo-Saxon, Protestant, racist nation with these ideas boiled into the minds of whites on Sunday, as preached from pulpits long before the Civil War. Today, many refuse to recognize the brutality of white supremacy tied to slavery and often try to distance themselves from it by coming up with arguments that have little validity, or worse, mask the issues. There will be a book signing this week, of my book on Saturday, June 4th at the Carver Library, 3350 E. Commerce, beginning at 5 pm. If you miss this one there will be more.
